


music for the heart

by takethebreadsticksandRUN



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Headcanon Accepted, M/M, Music, Singing, Soft Love, The Mechanisms - Freeform, post episode 159, pre episode 160
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:21:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23792254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/takethebreadsticksandRUN/pseuds/takethebreadsticksandRUN
Summary: Jon's past comes to light. Can he use it to make Martin happy?
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan Sims
Comments: 16
Kudos: 141





	music for the heart

**Author's Note:**

> hello cuties! hope you enjoy reading this. the two songs mentioned are 'Our Boy Jack' by the Mechanisms and 'Happy Together' by the Turtles, if you want to check them out totally recommend it. please please please tell me what you think!  
> xxx

Martin loved the village. Yes, no matter how much Jon teased him about his 'retro' aesthetic, he truly enjoyed the feel of the small town. After picking up the package from Basira and calling Melanie, he would wander the streets for hours, leaving JOn to do his spooky archivist stuff. It is amazing what one can find when you simply aren't looking for it. A small café that had the best sandwiches. A pastoral field, full of peaceful cows. And his latest find: a small music shop.

'Music’, proclaimed the small sign outside. It was tucked in the way back of the village, and by the looks of it, the store didn't get much traffic. When Martin first pushed open the door, he smiled at the rows of vinyl records, boxes of CD's, the walls papered with faded band posters, heck even the dingy shelf of tapes.

Martin loved music. No matter the genre, music always calmed him. It was hard to feel alone when someone seems to be singing directly to you and your heart. He remembered the collection of songs he'd at as a younger, less mentally-scarred university student. As he walked the narrow rows of music, Martin began unconsciously to search for the songs he'd loved before. An album he'd first heard as a young boy that reminded him of home. A scratched record of an old band. Remembering the tape player back at the cabin, he picked out a few Jon might like.

When Martin found a CD of his favorite band, the Mechanisms, he stopped dead in his tracks. It had been _years_ since he had thought about them. When he was university, Martin had loved- like _intense_ fan loved- the Mechanisms. He went whatever pub they happened to be performing and sat, not drinking, just letting the sounds wash over him. Martin once had met the lead, Jonny D’eville, for just a moment after a show. The small encounter had left him totally starstruck, unable to do anything but blush and stare. It was without hesitation that Martin added the CD ( _Once Upon a Time in Space_ ) to his small purchase.

“Jon! I’m home!” Martin said to the house in general, “Here’s the statements from the Institute.” Martin left them on the table, hearing Jon call back in reply from the shower.

When Jon found him, Martin was sitting on the edge of bed, eyes closed, listening to the CD from memory lane. Jon didn’t say anything at first, just drinking in the sight of Martin totally at peace. “Hey, how was your trip?” Martin looked up, pausing the music, “Find any good cows?” Martin rolled his eyes.

“If I did, I would have told you already, Jon.” Even the way Martin said his name made Jon shiver with a strange sort of happiness. “I found a small music shop, though. Got some great music, the stuff I used to listen to.” he gestured to the mishappen pile of records, tapes, and discs beside him, “Most of it is pretty awful, but it helps me to remember who I- who I was before the Institute, and the Lonely.” Martin looked at his feet, blushing, cursing himself for saying it aloud.

Jon nodded slowly and sat down next to him, the bed shifting under their combined weight. He could barely remember such a time, the events of the past few years seemed to take up an eternities worth of memory. “It’s okay, I lik-“ It was Jon’s turn to blush now, “I love you for who you are now. If it helps.” Martin turned to him, eyes wide, a tiny smile on his lips. His soft, perfectly kissable lips. Jon shook his head slightly, trying to shake the thoughts from his brain.

“Definitely helps, Jon,” Martin wrapped an arm around him, drawing him closer, “How are you so good at making someone feel better?” Martin buried his head in Jon’s shoulder.

Jon playfully tousled his curly hair, “I try.” Martin smiled and pressed play on the CD player. Being so engrossed in the man beside him, it took a few moments for Jon to realize what the song was. “Hey, is this the Mechanisms?”

He nodded, “Yeah, I used to be a huge fan. Went to all the shows, knew all the songs.” Jon suddenly smiled, a full grin that Martin had never seen before. “Jonny D’ville was my favo- why are you _smiling_ like that?” Jon struggled with it for a moment, trying and failing to keep a straight face.

He shook his head, still smiling, and sang along with the CD player, “And when the whiskey, it comes a-flowing, then we will drink-“ Martin gaped at him, comprehension dawning on his round face, “To our boy Jack!”

“Do you mean- you are-“ Jon placed a hand over Martin’s mouth, quieting him.

“And when they hunt us, they shall not find us, we shall live in infamy!” He finished the refrain and laughed as he growled the last few words of the song, “Boys, you fight for _me._ ” He savored the last word, turning back to face Martin.

“How- what- JON WHAT THE HELL?? Are you,” Martin seized the CD case, pointing to the old photograph of the band, Jonny D’ville at the front, “Captain D’ville?”

“First mate, technically. But yeah, that’s me. Oh boy,” Jon sighed, taking the picture from him, “That was a long time ago.” His tone quickly changed, ignoring the nostalgia, “Martin, did you _actually_ like the music?”

Martin flushed, involuntarily tightening his arm around Jon, “Yeah, I did. Like I said, huge fan. I can’t believe- I had the hugest crush on Jonny D’ville.” he smiled, adding as an afterthought, “Plus the music was amazing.”

“Sure,” the sarcasm dripped off Jon’s tongue, “It was simply fabulous. Just like Jonny’s beautiful face...”

“Oh, shut up,” Martin pressed a quick kiss against his lips, “I just can’t believe that I’m sitting here _holding Jonny D’ville_ , the obsession of a younger Blackwood.” Jon frowned, an unpleasant thought crossing his mind.

“Martin, do you just- care- about me because of a stupid band? I mean, obsession is a pretty powerful thing.”

“No, Jon,” his voice was serious now, “I fell in love with Jonathon Sims, the head Archivist of the Magnus Institute. Not some persona of yours.”

Relieved, Jon sank into the hollow of Martin’s body, “I love you too, Martin. It’s been so long since I thought about the band,” he laughed, softly, “It was fun, even though I could barely sing.”

“Barely. Sing. Huh, funny joke.” Martin rolled his eyes, “Jon, you can sing _very_ well. I didn’t just listen to your songs because the story was good, or because the first mate was cute, your music was great.” Jon blushed, glad Martin couldn’t see his face.

“I- thank you. Thank you, Martin.”

“You’re welcome. Now shut up and listen to the music.” They sat, cuddled together, listening to the album. Jon sighed, content.

Such a little thing, the music, but it seemed to bring a little bit of light back into Jon’s eyes. Now the tiny cabin was not only full of love but song as well. No matter what, Martin could always count on him to be singing or humming. He doubted that Jon knew what he was doing, but Martin found the way he sang old songs to himself whilst doing the dishes, showering _not that Martin had been listening to the door of course not why would you think that?!_ and everything in between just so, so adorable.

And he wasn’t lying. Jon could really sing.

“Hey, Jon?”

Jon looked up from the pile of papers he was absently sorting, “Yes?”

“What was that song, the one you were just singing?” Martin stared up at the wooden ceiling, arms folded behind his head, “It sounded… familiar.”

Jon blushed slightly. He found the songs he turned to were oh-so-often love songs. It just felt, right somehow. “Oh, I, uh, didn’t realize I was singing. Sorry, I’ll stop.”

Martin sat up straight, indignant. “No! It was nice. I was just wondering what it was.”

Jon leaned back on his hands, smiling slightly, “Happy Together. It’s an old one. I heard my mum sing it, once. You like it?”

Martin lay back down on the floor, “Yes, yes I do. It’s sweet.” The slightly haunted tune reminded him of Jon, and the words sunk deep into his mind. _The only one for me is you/And you for me/So happy together…_

Singing softly again, Jon watched Martin close his eyes and soak it in. In his mind, that song would always be Martin’s Song, and Jon found himself singing it more and more as the days went by, singing to Martin the words he couldn’t find.

**Author's Note:**

> this is kinda based on a headcanon where Jon is part of an old band. in reality Jon Sims, the author and voice of Jon in the Magnus Institute was in a band before but no mention has been made in canon of it.


End file.
